James Richard Curry (November 16, 1946 – January 7, 1983) was an American

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

and rapist who killed between four and five people in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

from 1982 to 1983. A few days after his arrest, Curry hung himself in his cell. He was posthumously determined to be the killer of the Sheep Flats Jane Doe, who was identified alongside him as Mary Silvani.

Early life and crimes

Little is known about Curry's early life. Born in Bexar, Texas on November 16, 1946, he was the illegitimate son of a man and woman from

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

who had an affair, with only his mother deciding to raise him under a different name. Sometime during the late 1960s to early 1970s, he was arrested for robbery and assault and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment at the

Huntsville Unit Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville or Huntsville Unit (HV), nicknamed "Walls Unit", is a Texas state prison located in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The approximately facility, near downtown Huntsville, is operated by the Correctional Ins ...

, where he remained until his release in 1977. Curry then decided to leave Texas and move to California, settling in the small community of Waukena, where he soon found employment in a locksmithing company.

Murders

While working in Waukena, Curry became acquainted with a 40-year-old fellow locksmith named James DeWitt Robinson. He learned that Robinson had received $10,000 as settlement from a 1976

personal injury Personal injury is a legal term for an Injury (law), injury to the body, mind, or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. In common law, common law jurisdictions the term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit in which the ...

lawsuit and had done property dealings in Tulare, leading some to speculate that Curry wanted to steal his money. Sometime in 1978, Robinson vanished without a trace and has still not been found to this day, but since he was not reported missing at the time, his disappearance was not investigated by the authorities. Sometime during the following four years, Curry purchased a self-storage yard in Santa Clara, where he would store some items stolen from his future victims. Through this business, he came into contact with 38-year-old Richard Lemmon Jr., a

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

native who wanted to store his two motorcycles, a truck, and other belongings in one of the storage lockers. The men had a cordial relationship, but sometime around early 1982, Curry had a falling out with him and decided to kill him. On February 17, he lured Lemmon to the storage locker and shot him once in the head with a .38 revolver. After killing him, he stuffed his body in a wooden crate, sealed it, and left it in the storage locker. Curry would later give Lemmon's motorcycle to one of his sons. On July 17, under as of yet unclear circumstances, Curry encountered 33-year-old Mary Edith Silvani somewhere in

Washoe County, Nevada Washoe County () is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 486,492, making it Nevada's second-most populous county. Its county seat is Reno. Washoe County is included in the Reno, NV Metropolitan Sta ...

, whereupon he proceeded to sexually assault and then kill her by shooting her in the back of the head. Silvani's body was then dumped along the Sheep's Flat hiking trail near

Incline Village Incline Village is an upmarket census-designated place (CDP) on the north shore of Lake Tahoe in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The population was 8,777 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Reno− Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...

, where it was soon found by hikers. Due to the fact that there was no ID or any personal items left near the body, coroners were unable to establish neither the victim's nor the killer's identities. Named "Sheep's Flat Jane Doe", her case garnered notoriety in the area over the years due to the mysterious circumstances surrounding it. Through the operation of his business, Curry became acquainted with 39-year-old Gerald and 34-year-old Sharon K. Novoselatz, a couple who owned a rival self-storage facility. Curry would later claim that his dispute with them stemmed from a 1981

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party, when he alleged that a drunken Gerald was being rude and obnoxious and that he had criticized his business. On January 2, 1983, Curry went to the Novoselatzes' apartment in San Jose, as Gerald wanted to purchase a .45 revolver from him. When he began inquiring on how to handle the weapon, Curry took it, aimed it at Gerald, and shot him once in the head, killing him on the spot. He then stole $400 from the apartment, raped Sharon, and forced her into his yellow

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, in which he planned to drive to the

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. He planned to put her on a random plane. However, while traveling to the airport, Curry stopped the car along State Route 92 to relieve himself - at that time, Sharon attempted to run away but was chased down by Curry. After he captured her, he proceeded to sexually assault and then shoot her in the head, leaving her body near the

Crystal Springs Reservoir Crystal Springs Reservoir is a pair of artificial lakes located in the northern Santa Cruz Mountains of San Mateo County, California operated by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for water supply to the San Francisco peninsula. Th ...

Arrest and suicide

Two days after the murders, Curry was arrested on suspicion of killing the Novoselatzes after voluntarily appearing for questioning. While he was being interrogated at the Santa Clara County Jail, authorities obtained a search warrant for Curry's self-storage unit, where they found Lemmon's decomposing body stuffed in the crate. When queried, he confessed to the three murders to Det. Sgt. Robert Morse, after which he asked Morse to shoot him. On January 6, while incarcerated at the Santa Clara County Jail to await further charges, Curry made a makeshift noose from a mattress cover and attempted to hang himself. A prison volunteer distributing books to the inmates found him and quickly reported it to the commanding officer, who attempted to resuscitate him without success. Curry was then taken to the San Jose Hospital and placed in the

intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive care medicine. An inten ...

, where he was kept on

life support Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform bas ...

and under constant surveillance. In the meantime, authorities began to search various records lockers associated with Curry in an attempt to potentially uncover further incriminating evidence. During one of these searches they discovered a handgun, IDs and old checkbooks belonging to James Robinson, but as they were unable to find his remains, they were unable to conclusively determine whether they were just stolen from Robinson or that he was killed and then robbed by Curry. On January 7, doctors at the San Jose Hospital decided to disconnect Curry's life support after determining that his vital signs were too faint for any sort of recovery. He was pronounced dead at 7:30 PM, with his cause of death ruled as suicide by hanging.

Identification and closure of the Silvani case

While his crimes were quickly forgotten after his suicide, the case of the Sheep's Flat Jane Doe became a primary focus of local and regional law enforcement, who attempted to uncover the victim's identity for decades. Sometime in the mid-2010s, criminalists from the Washoe County Sheriff's Forensic Science Division attended a lecture on

genetic genealogy Genetic genealogy is the use of genealogical DNA tests, i.e., DNA profiling and DNA testing, in combination with traditional genealogical methods, to infer genetic relationships between individuals. This application of genetics came to be use ...

hosted by Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, a geneticist known for her work with the

DNA Doe Project DNA Doe Project (also DNA Doe Project, Inc. or DDP) is an American nonprofit volunteer organization formed to identify unidentified deceased persons (commonly known as John Doe or Jane Doe) using forensic genealogy. Volunteers identify victims ...

and Identifinders International. Following this, detectives and criminalists started working with the organizations in an attempt to identify the Sheep's Flat Jane Doe. After providing a sample of the victim's DNA, it was uploaded to

GEDmatch GEDmatch is a public website and online service with DNA and genealogy tools for comparing autosomal DNA in personal family research and for law enforcement in forensic investigative research. Users upload their DNA data files from various gen ...

, where geneticists were able to track down Silvani's parents and positively confirm that she was the murder victim after they linked her fingerprints to a 1974 misdemeanor arrest in

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. In the same press release announcing her identification, authorities also announced that they had linked Curry's DNA to the perpetrator's thanks to the cooperation of his two children, officially closing the case.

References

External links